Sorry Sunderland have a lot to work on before the Capital One Cup final

There was a feeling going into Sunderland’s daunting game at The Emirates that it was the ideal warm-up game ahead of next weekend’s Capital One Cup Final.

Much like the upcoming fixture at Wembley, yesterday Sunderland were the massive underdogs and had to contend with playing on a huge pitch.

Despite hopes that the Black Cats may have been able to capitalise on a potentially tired Arsenal side, the reality was that Arsene Wenger’s men were simply head and shoulders above Sunderland, not that Gus Poyet’s men put up much of a fight.

Indeed the first half was nothing short of an embarrassment.

You would have been forgiven for mistaking the ten yellow shirts on display as nothing more than plastic dummies in an Arsenal training exercise such was the ease with which Wenger’s men stroked the ball around with consummate ease.

Sunderland showed their opponents far too much respect, gifting their adversary all the time and space to capitalise as they saw fit and it was no surprise to see the away side three goals down at half time.

Sure Tomas Rosicky’s goal was a thing of beauty and has quite rightly been lauded with the admiration it deserves, but if you’re telling me there was nothing more Sunderland’s defence could have done to at least attempt to stop the flowing move I’d deem you a liar.

The lack of effort, application and desire from the Sunderland side was quite frankly shameful and the old adage that many may well have had their mind on the Cup Final unfortunately seemed to ring true.

The game was dead and buried at halftime, so much so that Poyet opted to withdraw Jozy Altidore and Adam Johnson from the “action”, adding the to the huge pile of cotton wool in which Lee Cattermole was already residing in preparation for Manchester City.

In fact it was the likes of Lee Cattermole which yesterday’s Sunderland side were desperately crying out for. His bite and leadership sorely missed in the middle of the park as Arsenal effortlessly controlled the game.

With Liam Bridcutt set to miss next weekend’s huge game, Lee Cattermole’s importance to the side became even more apparent, however have we genuinely reached the stage where we cannot really on the Teesider’s temperament and fitness, instead opting to protect him from any suspension or injury?

It may perhaps have been a blessing in disguise to receive such a stark, rude awakening the week before the biggest game in this club’s recent history, dispelling any complacency or contentment that may well have crept into the squad’s mentality.

If Sunderland are to stand any chance of staging a massive upset on the grandest of all stages then they certainly need to buck their ideas up and apply themselves immeasurably better than they managed on Saturday afternoon otherwise it could well turn out to be more of a nightmare than the potential dream that all Sunderland fans so desperately deserve.